I am listening to "She's a Lady" by Tom Jones as I am starting to write this entry. These are the kinds of thing you won't get from any other blog about a person studying abroad in London. There probably not many to choose from but you get the idea, you guys get a guy who will listen to Tom Jones and not be ashamed about it. Next up on my blogging playlist (I should have made one of those before I left) is "You Sexy Thing". Yup.Moving along from that, apparently some people got a little too rowdy last night and there were noise complaints to Metrogate and stuff about people from CSB/SJU being too loud. I woul
d agree with that statement, I could hear them in my room. Oh well. This morning I woke up at 10 and showered (hot water, woo) and ate some breakfast. I went to see what Vanessa wanted to do today and she came up with the idea of walking from our apartment out into London and seeing where it took us. Now this is my kind of deal, venturing out with little to no real destination and taking pictures along the way. We walked along Hyde Park and go to Hyde Park Corner. This is where a bunch of WWI memorial are. There is a Machine Gun Corps Memorial (picture 1) and a New Zealand War Memorial and a whole bunch more that I don't want to list. W
e then walked along Green Park and made our way to Buckingham Palace (picture 2). I feel bad because I pass all these really cool buildings and usually only take pictures of the outside of them. I promise that sometime I will go inside them and take more pictures.
d agree with that statement, I could hear them in my room. Oh well. This morning I woke up at 10 and showered (hot water, woo) and ate some breakfast. I went to see what Vanessa wanted to do today and she came up with the idea of walking from our apartment out into London and seeing where it took us. Now this is my kind of deal, venturing out with little to no real destination and taking pictures along the way. We walked along Hyde Park and go to Hyde Park Corner. This is where a bunch of WWI memorial are. There is a Machine Gun Corps Memorial (picture 1) and a New Zealand War Memorial and a whole bunch more that I don't want to list. W
e then walked along Green Park and made our way to Buckingham Palace (picture 2). I feel bad because I pass all these really cool buildings and usually only take pictures of the outside of them. I promise that sometime I will go inside them and take more pictures.Aside: I take WAY more pictures than I put on this blog, I just put the highlights on here so don't be surprised when I get home if I sit you all down for a realllllly long time and show all the pictures to you.
After Buckingham Palace, we ventured forth into St. James Park. This park was originally the King's hunting grounds, then landscaped like to look like a French Park, then landscaped to look natural, like it does today. It's very pretty there. There are a ton of birds in the park though. Pigeons, swans, geese, and a whole bunch that I don't know. Very crazy. They would whiz by my head and I'd duck. We then walked on to Trafalgar Square. Same old, same old. Haha.
I don't really mean that but we didn't linger there. From Trafalgar Square, we got on a road called The Strand. This road runs from Trafalgar Square to the Tower of London. We didn't go all the way to the Tower of London however (since I was just there yesterday). We walked along the road and I has a trusty guide book out (of course). Actually, here's a list of stuff that I always carry with me (safely in my rain coat pockets which are zippered and velcroed shut, almost impossible to open):
I don't really mean that but we didn't linger there. From Trafalgar Square, we got on a road called The Strand. This road runs from Trafalgar Square to the Tower of London. We didn't go all the way to the Tower of London however (since I was just there yesterday). We walked along the road and I has a trusty guide book out (of course). Actually, here's a list of stuff that I always carry with me (safely in my rain coat pockets which are zippered and velcroed shut, almost impossible to open): - money
- camera
- map
- guidebook
- oyster card (for the tube)
- passport
e sometimes but I usually don't mind it, I always use all of it. I also add things like a ticket or pencil or what have you, when I need to. So we walked along The Stand and all of a sudden a church appeared in the middle of the road, between the two lanes of traffic! It's called St. Mary-Le-Strand (picture 3). It was very beautiful inside (picture 4). Vanessa and I continued onward and lo and behold, another church was in the middle of the road! This one was the Royal Air Force Church and we walked in and listened to a talk. Then we went down to the crypt which had little plaques all over the walls (picture 5). Next up on our walking tour was the Royal Courts of Justice (picture 6). These are the highest courts in England for civil cases. High profile divorces and other
things go on inside. People can go in and listen for free (don't take pictures, they get angry). The inquest into Diana's death is going on there right now. Heavy stuff. I was glancing at the guide book and I noticed this out of the way little thing called Temple which the book said we should go to, so we did. It turned out to be Temple Church, the Church where Knights Templar used to be ordained and stuff. More importantly, it was featured in Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code! I couldn't believe it. Vanessa can attest to my excitement for finding one of the places he featured prominently in the book (along with a library that I can't think of the name of and Westminster Abbey). Inside the church, there are stone e
ffigys of Knights (picture 7). I loved it. We continued on down some cool alleys and then back up to The Strand. This is where we were getting tired and decided to was about time to go back (um, Tube? Yes, please!). The closest tube station was St. Paul's Cathedral. The place that I have already been to three times and have not been in (soon, I promise). It was still just as beautiful and awesome as when I first saw it. We were tired, the walk was about 4.5 miles and obviously, Half Dome and Skeleton Point and Odessa Lake and stuff were not the long but I was in better shape then and we sat down a lot. Here, no sitting, lots of walking. We finished our tour in about 3 hours. So we went to get on the train but the line we wanted was down so we had to transfer twice to get back to our flat. It was very annoying when we were so tired.
ffigys of Knights (picture 7). I loved it. We continued on down some cool alleys and then back up to The Strand. This is where we were getting tired and decided to was about time to go back (um, Tube? Yes, please!). The closest tube station was St. Paul's Cathedral. The place that I have already been to three times and have not been in (soon, I promise). It was still just as beautiful and awesome as when I first saw it. We were tired, the walk was about 4.5 miles and obviously, Half Dome and Skeleton Point and Odessa Lake and stuff were not the long but I was in better shape then and we sat down a lot. Here, no sitting, lots of walking. We finished our tour in about 3 hours. So we went to get on the train but the line we wanted was down so we had to transfer twice to get back to our flat. It was very annoying when we were so tired. Everyone decided to go out to dinner together before S
tomp started. We all met up and made it on the tube (no one get hit by a car or anything). It was THE MOST crowded ride on the Tube I have ever seen. Unbelieveable. At each stop people would cram and push so they could just barely fit in when the doors closed. People almost had their heads cut off. But, we made it safe and sound to Leicester Square (pronounced Lester Square, just like Gloucester Road, my Tube stop, is pronounced Gl-ow!-ster Road). Anyway, we went to an Italian restaurant (all 25, Nick couldn't make it to dinner) and we had the upstairs all to ourselves (picture 8). I sat with some people I never talk to and tried to have a conversation. It was difficult, there were teeth pulled and st
uff but I got us talking a little. I had to ask leading questions and stuff but it was worth. I got to know some people a little better and I think I made a good impression (how could I not? right?). I ate Rissoto Al Pollo (risotto with chicken breast, peppers, and mushrooms in a saffron and white wine sauce). It was basically the best thing I have eaten here. It was so delicious, words can describe. Then we went to Stomp (picture 9) which I had seen before but, it was still really good and entertaining. Banging on cans and using brooms and other household items to make sound. Awesome. Then we headed back and that's where I'm at.
tomp started. We all met up and made it on the tube (no one get hit by a car or anything). It was THE MOST crowded ride on the Tube I have ever seen. Unbelieveable. At each stop people would cram and push so they could just barely fit in when the doors closed. People almost had their heads cut off. But, we made it safe and sound to Leicester Square (pronounced Lester Square, just like Gloucester Road, my Tube stop, is pronounced Gl-ow!-ster Road). Anyway, we went to an Italian restaurant (all 25, Nick couldn't make it to dinner) and we had the upstairs all to ourselves (picture 8). I sat with some people I never talk to and tried to have a conversation. It was difficult, there were teeth pulled and st
uff but I got us talking a little. I had to ask leading questions and stuff but it was worth. I got to know some people a little better and I think I made a good impression (how could I not? right?). I ate Rissoto Al Pollo (risotto with chicken breast, peppers, and mushrooms in a saffron and white wine sauce). It was basically the best thing I have eaten here. It was so delicious, words can describe. Then we went to Stomp (picture 9) which I had seen before but, it was still really good and entertaining. Banging on cans and using brooms and other household items to make sound. Awesome. Then we headed back and that's where I'm at. Tomorrow we visit parliament (go inside and stuff with a tour guide). Again, I am super excited and basically the luckiest guy in the world to see all this stuff. I finished the post by listening to Rhianna, again, yup. Smoochs!
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